Teton Sioux Hunter

Description:
The term Sioux is derived from the expression ‘except a snake’, used with derogatory intent by the Algonquins to refer to the peoples who lived in the great central plains of the United States and southern Canada, between the Platte River to Mt Heart and from the forests of Minnesota, to Missouri and onwards to the Big Horn Mountains.

History
The Sioux Alliance was originally formed by seven distinct entities known as:
Mdewakanton (“Spirit Lake Village”, the original group of the entire Sioux nation), Wahpeton (“Leaf Village”), Wahpekute (“Archers of the leaves”), Sisseton (probably “Village of the fishing grounds”), Yankton (“Village at the end, or further afield”), Yanktonai (“Small village at the end, or further afield”) and Teton (probably “Those who dwell, or wander in the prairie”). The Teton then, in the imagination of the Western world, would have formed the typical image of the 'American Indian', although they were the founders of a civilization of necessities, based on horses and bison hunting, which lasted, in fact, only a few decades. Once separated from the more easterly groups, in fact (but still keeping in mind the common origin), the Teton recreated within the group, the original subdivisions in the Seven Fires of the Council, dividing themselves into the following subgroups:
Oglala (Those-who-scatter)
Sicangu (or Burnt Thighs or Brulé)
Mineconjou (more precisely Mnikan'oju or Mnikowoju, that is [Sowers of a] camp near the river)
Hunkpapa (Those-who-camp-at-the-entrance)
Sihasapa (or Black Feet, however, not to be confused with the Algonquin group of the same name of the Siksika, Montana)
Oohenonpa (or Two Kettles)
Itazipcho (or Sans Arcs, from itazipa, "bow" and "co", short for Codan, "without" – No Bows).

According to some studies, at the end of the sixteenth century these people must have been stationed in an area corresponding approximately to the current state of North Carolina and a hundred years later, probably due to the continuing threat posed by the neighbouring and powerful Iroquois League, they seem to have had to go upstream along the Missouri River, to settle in the forests west of the Great Lakes, where they remained for at least the seventeenth century. Due to the increasing pressure from their enemies Chippewa, the Sioux (with the exception of the subgroup Santee, which remained in the forests of eastern Minnesota until 1862) moved into the prairies, over a long process that led them to dedicate themselves to a nomadic life following the bison trails, thus becoming part of a number of tribes that gave life to the short but intense Culture of the Prairies. The moving process in the prairies was accelerated with the appearance of the horse, which had become extinct in the North American continent during the Pleistocene, but had returned with the Spanish conquistadors. Besides hunting, the main activity for the men was war. The Sioux have gone down in history for their great resistance to the invasion of "white men". For the Sioux, the war was in many ways a game based on valour and courage: in some cases they merely touched the opponent to symbolize the killing, quite often leaving him alive; prestige, in fact, was garnered with feats of pure valour and each "blow" was a demonstration of this, made explicit by an eagle feather in the hair. The Sioux attached great importance to the figure of the circle: the layout of the village was circular, the elders sat in a circle during ceremonies, the heavens and the earth were considered circular. Their spirituality was based on the notion of Wakan, an expression of the supernatural power that permeates the universe, people and things, of which the god Wakan Tanka was the highest incarnation. During ceremonies some objects of symbolic value played a key role, deemed essential for the proper performance of the rituals. For example feathers had great importance: the headdress covered with such ornaments was intended to demonstrate the courage of whoever wore it. Among the numerous incursions in which the Sioux featured prominently, one of the most important – called "of Red Cloud", was led by the Teton. This also involved the Cheyenne and Arapaho, and was concluded, in favourable terms for the Indians, with the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. The last great act of resistance led by the Teton Sioux (but not without the help of the Cheyenne, and even with the help of the last non-pacified group of their former allies in the East, the Santee led by the implacable Inkpaduta) took place between 1875 and 1876, and culminated in the massacre of Little Bighorn, one of the greatest military victories achieved by American Indians on European and U.S. armies.

With the disappearance of the bison in subsequent years, all the Sioux were eventually forced onto reservations and in 1890, four days after Christmas, at Wounded Knee Creek, the 7th Cavalry was finally able to avenge the dead of Little Bighorn slaughtering in snow and ice an entire band of desperate Mineconjou, including women and children, and thus putting an end to the resistance of the Indians or rather sealed with a horrific massacre three centuries of injustices, oppression and betrayals.